Science-based artificial intelligence (AI) pioneer, nybl, has acquired Nubila, a visual data mining and machine learning (ML) platform in a deal that will see Nubila’s founder, Marlon de Jesús González, join nybl’s R&D team and focus on the company’s growth.
The acquisition marks the latest development in nybl’s democratisation of AI by building a comprehensive end-to-end AI ecosystem that enables anyone to connect to and analyse vast data sets in real-time without writing any code or relying on historical training data.
Nybl’s unique science-based AI solutions are already at the forefront of deep technology across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. The platform is currently used across various sectors such as Oil & Gas (O&G), healthcare and security in a growing list of countries including the UAE, Kuwait, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, India, and the US.
CEO Noor Alnahhas recently spoke exclusively to Arabian Business about the company, its funding and the hopes for the future.
When did you come up with the idea of nybl or realise there was a gap in the market for the business?
When we launched in 2019, we didn’t intend to create an artificial intelligence (AI) company. We wanted to address the problems we knew organisations faced in implementing their AI and offer a solution to the lingering issues of using deep technology. The main issue here being that traditional AI relies too heavily on historical data which comes with its own biases and prejudices. We created nybl to rip up the playbook and write a new one.
We ended up developing a technology that doesn’t require historical data to function, predict or diagnose. Our proprietary, science-based machine learning, data-behaviour models, and digital process simulations use science to predict behaviours.
As such, our technology can be applied to any equipment, on any platform in any industry. This flexibility makes our tech one of the most versatile in the world. In this sense, we’re creating an ecosystem that enables anyone to deploy AI tech, and opening up the principle of AI to everyone.
In essence, we are democratising AI, by making it easily accessible and reducing barriers to entry.
What is your business plan?
We’re setting out to democratise AI. This involves building a comprehensive end-to-end AI ecosystem that allows any developer to connect to, and analyse, vast data sets in real-time without writing any code or relying on historical data.
At a more granular level, we plan to move with stability, ensure sustainable growth and shore up our resilience. Covid-19 taught us all the hard way just how vulnerable global supply chains are; we need to fortify them with the best technology we can create.
In the short-term, we’re committed to enhancing our R&D footprint, establishing our growth plans and offerings across different sectors, as well as hiring more deployment talent. We want to pave the way for the sustainable growth of AI-enabled industries that contribute to a thriving society.
We grew by 840 percent in 2020 and we forecast an additional 1,000 percent growth in 2021. The long-term plan is to become one of the first tech companies in the region to launch an IPO. Our target is to achieve this by the end of 2022.
Is the company bootstrapped or have you raised capital from investors? Can you take us through your funding journey?
Nybl has previously raised $2.5 million across two early-stage rounds including $1m from India-based telecommunication networking services company, CommTel Networks.
We’ve also raised capital from a combination of family and friends, angel, and strategic investors. We’ve primarily used the funds to invest in R&D and talent acquisition.
We’re looking at creating at least 40 new jobs, with a further 100 people being employed directly or indirectly to deploy our technology over the course of 2021 and 2022. Most of our talent will fall into the categories of developers, testers, researchers and, of course, in deployment.
What is the best advice anyone has ever given you?
Persistence, patience, and perspective – Bill Sherril (may he rest in peace).
Sherril was the founder of the Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Houston, my alma mater. He taught me that persistence and patience are the differentiators between success and failure.
But these two alone are a dangerous combination if you don’t have an independent perspective to guide you and be your litmus test. As a result, we have an incredible board of advisors at nybl that we meet with on a weekly basis to provide our outside perspective, leaders of industry who provide us with un-biased feedback and guidance to make sure we are on the right track, that our strategies make sense, and that our value proposition holds true to the market.
Where would you like to see the company in the next five years and what is your vision for the company?
On the road to democratising AI, we want to launch an IPO and offer the power of our technology to the public and deploy world-changing technological innovation. A lot of that technology already exists in-house. An IPO will provide us with the funds to accelerate R&D, commercialisation and global scaling.
Along the way, we want to realise significant savings and profit-retention opportunities for our clients, and to grow the geography of our client base.
As an example of what we are capable of, last year nybl created $9.58m in value in just six months for one of our key client’s – an industry giant in the energy sector. We not only increased production and equipment lifespan, but were also able predict failure through a fraction of their equipment.
Additionally, we also helped increasing equipment run life by 20-30 percent, with an overall increase of five percent in production. We want to bring this kind of value to a myriad of sectors and help streamline otherwise costly and time-consuming processes.
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